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Bible Encyclopedias
Ibn Tufail
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or Or ToFAIL [Abu Bakr Mahommed ibn `Abd-ulMalik ibn Tufail ul-Qaisi] (d. 1185), Moslem philosopher, was born at Guadix near Granada. There he received a good training in philosophy and medicine, and is said to have been a pupil of Avempace. He became secretary to the governor of Granada, and later physician and vizier to the Mohad caliph, Abu Ya`qub Yusuf. He died at Morocco.
1 Summary in E. G. Browne, A Literary History of Persia (London, 1902), pp. 387 f.
The preface was translated into German by Theodor Noldeke in his Beitrage (Hanover, 1864), pp. 1-51.
His chief work is a philosophical romance, in which he describes the awakening and growth of intellect in a child removed from the influences of ordinary life. Its Arabic title is Risalat Hayy ibn Yagzan; it was edited by E. Pococke as Philosophus autodidactus (Oxford, 1671; 2nd ed., 1700), and with a French translation by L. Gauthier (Algiers, 1900). An English translation by S. Ockley was published in 1708 and has been reprinted since. A Spanish translation by F. Pons Boigues was published at Saragossa (1900). Another work of Ibn Tufail, the Kitab Asrar ulIjikma ul-mashragiyya ("Secrets of Eastern Science;"), was published at Bulaq (1882); cf. S. Munk, Mélanges (1859), pp. 410 sqq., and T. J. de Boer, Geschichte der Philosophie im Islam (Stuttgart, 1901), pp. 160 sqq. (also an English translation). (G. W. T.)
These files are public domain.
Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Ibn Tufail'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/bri/i/ibn-tufail.html. 1910.
